Product Field NotesCompanion Plants
Lavender Glowsticks Blazing Star: 4-Foot Native Wands
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Lavender Glowsticks prairie blazing star is a selection of Liatris pycnostachya, a tough North American native that thrives in heavy clay and summer heat. It was chosen for very tall flower stalks, with the dense, fuzzy lavender-purple flowers covering more than half of each stem, and for a long bloom. The spikes rise to about 4 feet from a sturdy base of dark green, grassy leaves.
Prairie blazing star is known for flopping. This strain was selected for unusually sturdy stems, which is the difference between a glowstick and a wet noodle.
Lavender Glowsticks at a glance
| Trait | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Liatris pycnostachya 'Lavender Glowsticks' |
| Flowers | Lavender-purple bottlebrush spikes, opening top down |
| Foliage | Dark green, narrow, grass-like |
| Size | About 48 inches tall, 18 to 24 inches wide |
| Bloom | Early to mid-July, long blooming |
| Hardiness | USDA zones 3-9 |
| Light | Full sun |
| Wildlife | Excellent for butterflies and bees; moderately deer resistant |
A towering echo of lavender
Lavender Glowsticks shares lavender's color, lavender's love of sun and lean soil, and even lavender's spiky flower shape, just scaled up. Planted in a row behind lavender, its 4-foot wands rise over the purple mounds in midsummer, creating a two-level wall of the same color. It is also more forgiving of heavy clay than lavender, so it can fill the back of a bed where the soil is less than perfect, as long as it does not stay waterlogged.
It shines in prairie plantings and at the back of a sunny border too. Map the rows in the Companion Plant Planner.
Planting and care
- Site: full sun in poor to average soil. Rich soil or shade can make the tall spikes lean.
- Water: help it through the first season; then it handles heat and dry spells.
- Winter: the corms are very cold hardy as long as the soil does not stay waterlogged.
- Critters: voles and rabbits may eat corms and young shoots.
- Fall: cut stems back, or leave them for winter structure and seed for birds, trimming in spring.
Butterflies and the cutting garden
Butterflies and bees swarm the flowers, and with lavender blooming below, a July bed of the two is about as busy as a garden gets. The stems are rated excellent for cutting and good for drying. Cut when the top third of the spike is open. Plan a cutting row with the Cut Flower Planner.
Planting from bare root
Lavender Glowsticks is offered as a bare root plant, a corm. Plant it a couple of inches deep with the growing point up, in soil that drains, and water until shoots appear. See the product page for current availability.
Frequently asked questions
How is it different from Kobold blazing star?
Kobold is a compact dense blazing star, about 1½ to 2½ feet tall. Lavender Glowsticks is a prairie blazing star that reaches about 4 feet, best for the back of the bed.
Does it need staking?
Usually not in lean soil and full sun. It was selected for sturdy stems.
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